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Cedars-Sinai vs. Something closer in distance

Hi Ladies~I just moved to DTLA a few weeks ago. As it stands, I currently have two choices of health insurance - BCBS or Kaiser Permanente.I am due in May and decided to check out Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as it has high reviews for OB. HOWEVER - it is 10 miles away from me. I don't mind driving to the checkups, but I'm scared about delivery. Is 10 miles too far? What if I get stuck in rush hour?Would anybody recommend that I go to a different hospital in DTLA?Also, my current doctor at Cedars only finished her residency a year or two ago. My pregnancy is a healthy one, but should I be worried?

Re: Cedars-Sinai vs. Something closer in distance

I live just outside DT in Koreatown and I'll be delivering at UCLA. I'm not worried about the distance as it's my first baby and expect my labor to be long. I'm confident I'll have plenty of time to get there and plan to labor at home as long as possible.

For me, the type of care and facility was the most important and it's how I made the decision. With the unpredictability of our traffic, even something closer could be hard to get to on any given day! I'm choosing to not worry about it since it's out of my control and chose the care I wanted instead.

No advice on the young OB, I think that might be based more on your comfort level with her and your trust in the relationship you build with her over time. Good luck to you!

I live in West Adams (a few neighborhoods south and west of you), work in DTLA and finished just signing my paperwork for a Cedars delivery. Unlike people on the other side of the hill, we don't have a lot of choices as far as good hospitals on the East side. The hospital I was born in DTLA doesn't even deliver babies anymore! That being said, the options we do have West are really good.

Totally understand your concern re traffic, my mom had a quick labor with me but it still took her an hour and a half. But those cases are pretty rare, most of us will have hours. Personally, I am out the door and on my way to the hospital when stuff starts to happens, just in case

My husband didn't like my OBGYN and I wasn't thrilled to hear she didn't actually deliver the babies anymore, so I changed to another one that was recommended by another poster here. Love him! Glad I made the switch. Doctor or midwife or doula, it is what makes YOU comfortable because it is the person that will get you through one of the scariest/most exciting experiences of your life.

Oh, I also looked into Kaiser because I had friends who have birth there. Facilities looked good. Nobody had really bad things to say, just that they all went there because that was the health insurance they had.

I live on the west side and was debating the same thing. Did you take a tour of all your potential hospitals? I found them really helpful. I took maternity tours of both Cedar Sinai and St Johns and Cedars was so much better in my opinion. I'm going with Cedars. Like most other people have said here, we should have more than enough time to get to the hospital.